Letting God Shape Us

“Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.” Jer 18:6

Thinking and believing that we are like clay in God’s hands ought to be comforting, but it isn’t always. Because we so want to control our lives, we often push away God’s hands shaping us into what God wants. Though we believe that being “worked” by God makes us wonderful and transparent signs of God’s life in the world, we resist becoming God’s “pots.”

Many years ago, a potter friend of mine give a wonderful workshop on the craft of pottery and its relationship to our spiritual life. First she reminded us that the clay is formed into a pliable ball and then centered on the wheel where the lightest touch begins to shape the ball into the form the potter intends. God is not harsh she reminded us, and from the ball of all are faults and weaknesses, while allowing us enormous freedom in our spiritual journey, God makes us into beautiful and useful pots. At the same time, she noted, only after the pot is formed can it be glazed and fired. The same is true for us. Becoming the person God wants us to become is a long and slow, but ultimately beautiful and purposeful process.

Today, give the delicate and gentle hand of God permission to shape you.

What have been the most important moments in your becoming God’s work?

St Martha

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things." Lk 10:41

There is a series on anxiety that has been running in the New York Times for several years. (anxiety) Sometimes difficult to read because the writers suffer so from what to others might be insignificant situations, it is, nevertheless, insightful and demanding. I read it because I am an anxious person and want to learn more about the condition, but also because it reminds us that almost 20% of Americans regularly suffer from anxiety. Clearly, for anyone committed to a Gospel life, compassion for the suffering is essential.

Although it is difficult to know if Martha's anxiety is similar to what the Times' columnists write about, the text is clear. Martha is anxious to have Jesus address her discomfort and tell her sister Mary to help in the kitchen. Jesus responds gently enough, but reminds Martha that Mary has chosen the better part. Mary wants Jesus to free her from her anxiety and thinks having her sister help with the serving will do this, but those who suffer from anxiety know this is not the case. Unless we learn to enter and own our discomfort, it will always control us, and while we might want to blame others for it, it belongs to us and only we can engage it and live with it.

Today, stay with your anxiety or upset. Don't run.

What situations most often make your anxious or worried?

Asking for Help

“Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” Mt 13:36

In recent days, while trying fruitlessly to figure out the Corona Virus, I stumbled upon this Gospel text and wondered whether the apostles were as confused as I am these days. Viruses are like upside down parables. Our task is not to figure them out, but to learn how to live with them and let them speak to us.

This is not bad advice for most of us most of the time. Listening to others with open minds and hearts may not help us make sense of upsetting and baffling realities, but it does let others know we respect them and trust them. Perhaps that is what the Apostles were demonstrating in asking Jesus to help them understand the parable of the weeds, and perhaps that is what we need to do in the midst of this pandemic. Ask the Lord for insight, wisdom and acceptance and the explanation might take care of itself.

Today listen to someone who is confused even if you can't help them.

Whose presence in your life helped you live with confusion and upset?

Mustard Seeds

"The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush,
and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'" Mt 13: 31-32

Jesus continually surprises his disciples. Just as they get comfortable with the direction he is taking, he turns a corner and turns their world upside down, telling them that God's reign is like a mustard seed. When someone from the crowd, exultant and full of himself, proclaims that he will follow Jesus anywhere, Jesus reminds him that he has no place to lay his head. Is the fellow from the crowd willing to become a nomad and follow Jesus into the wilderness? Challenge after challenge faces the Apostles and disciples.

In claiming his identity as a pilgrim and an itinerant preacher, Jesus promises us that like the God of the Hebrew scriptures he will follow his flock anywhere and everywhere. Though he makes few demands, he is always imploring us to live like him, without family or wealth, but full of hope and compassion. God will guide us and care for us, he insists, but we have to trust. The emptiness of having nothing in Christ is a fullness beyond compare. Clinging to nothing, we have everything. The faith to believe this is the test we all face.

Today, empty yourself of everything that gets in the way of loving God and neighbor.

Have you known the glory of feeling rich even when you have nothing?